Official documents about the Hillsborough disaster are to be made public 10 years ahead of schedule after a request from the home secretary, the Home Office has confirmed.

Jacqui Smith has met with South Yorkshire's chief constable, Meredydd Hughes, to discuss waiving the 30-year rule on official documents.

The news emerged days after the 20th anniversary of the tragedy at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough stadium on 15 April 1989, when 96 Liverpool supporters died at their team's FA Cup semi-final with Nottingham Forest.

The anniversary, which was marked with memorial services in all three cities on Wednesday, saw renewed calls by victims' families for a new inquiry into the deaths. They believe a major incident plan was never initiated by South Yorkshire police and fans in the Leppings Lane end were denied emergency medical attention.

The families also dispute the findings of the previous single inquest into the 96 deaths, which ruled that the victims were all dead, or brain dead, by 3.15pm and recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Trevor Hicks, of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, said today: "We have heard that a request has been made and we are expecting confirmation this week.

"I am pleased ‑ it's better late than never. This will enable us to see the full picture of events in a way that we have been denied for 20 years. It is vital that these files are released in full and not sanitised in any way."

He said the families would like to view the documents before they are made public to ensure they do not learn the details of how their loved ones died through the media.

The documents to be released could include police files and the records of other emergency services, government departments and local authorities.

The families say they are particularly keen to see the minutes of a meeting between then prime minister Margaret Thatcher and South Yorkshire police officers, which they say took place on the Sunday morning after the disaster.

"We believe that a decision was made at that meeting that the police would not be blamed for what happened," said Hicks.

"We would like to see the minutes of the meeting, to know what the prime minister was told and what decisions were taken about the handling of any inquiries."